Another year of books and movies! I didn’t complete my full lists in 2023, but I still read and watched a lot of good things that I would like to talk about.

Books

Best Book: We Had to Remove This Post by Hanna Bervoets

A weird and chilling look at the world of content moderators, We Had to Remove This Post shines a bright light on the people working in the background of every part of the internet, and will stay with you for a while to come.

Honorable Mentions: My Sister, The Serial Killer by by Oyinkan Braithwaite, Bad Girls by Camila Sosa Villada

Worst Book: Money Shot, Vol. 1 by Tim Seeley and Sarah Beattie, illustrated by Rebekah Isaacs

Maybe this comic gets better in later volumes, but I will not be reading in order to find out. A story that loudly proclaims itself to be raunchy and weird has no business being this mundane and pedestrian.

Most Frustrating Book: Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfař

A book that wants to use the trapping of sci-fi to tell a literary fiction story, but just ends up failing at both genres.

Dishonorable Mentions: Shadows of the Workhouse by Jennifer Worth, Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson

Biggest Surprise: Bad Girls by Camila Sosa Villada

This was a random grab in the library, but ended up being so gripping and rich that it topped my yearly list and will stay with me for a while. 

Movies

I saw a lot of older movies this year, but for my recommendations I will mostly focus on those from this or last year.

Best Movie: Talk to Me (2022)

Just a truly exceptional horror film.

Honorable Mention: Polite Society (2023)

Worst Movie: Silent Night (2023)

This almost feels unfair to put here, as my wife and I walked out of the theater halfway through, but I highly doubt the ending redeemed this incredibly boring “thriller” with its twisted vigilante morality.

Most Frustrating Movie: Knock at the Cabin (2023)

If a novel has one central question, A or B, it is a bold choice for an adaptation to choose B when the novel chose A. Bold, but not necessarily good.

Biggest Surprise: Theater Camp (2023)

The trailers did this indie comedy no favors, but I ended up laughing out loud in the theater several times, and I would put it right up there with several Christopher Guest movies.